The US military has awarded contracts valued at nearly $10 billion to provide food for US troops, amid a billing dispute with its longstanding supplier Supreme Foodservice GmbH.

Anham, a leading contracting firm based in Dubai, has won the contract to provide full-line food and non-food distribution and support to the US troops in Afghanistan.

Anham is created by the principals of the Arab Supply and Trading Company, Astra, of Saudi; GMS Holdings, a principal founder of Munir Sukhtian International, of Jordan; and HII-Finance Corporation of Vienna, Virginia, US.

The UAE headquartered Anham said the contract was awarded by the United States Defense Logistics Agency. The supply deal, mainly to a Dubai-based company, but which also includes a no-bid award to Supreme, is likely to come under close scrutiny in Washington.

The Pentagon says it has spent about $6.8 billion since 2005 on its current food-supply contract with Supreme, a unit of Netherlands-based Supreme Group that delivers food, water and other supplies to about 250 delivery locations around Afghanistan.

Earlier this year, the Defense Logistics Agency, the Pentagon's logistics arm, began reducing payments to Supreme by $21.7 million a month in order to start recouping what the agency says were $750 million in over-payments.